Black Lives Matter protests ongoing
This week has seen two Black Lives Matter events in Plant City and a third is on the schedule for Friday afternoon.
Ten protesters gathered at the Southern Hospitality parking lot on Tuesday to march to Plant City Police Department, take a knee and pray together before heading back. That day, Promise Goodwine said, the group wanted to raise awareness about Publix’s policy against allowing employees to wear face masks with “Black Lives Matter” and other non-Publix messages on them. The policy made headlines recently when Quinton Desamours was sent home for writing “BLM” on his mask.
“He told me that I was endangering myself and everybody else who worked there,” Desamours told the Fort Myers News-Press. “Then he said he couldn’t have me out on the floor with that mask on.”
Desamours quit his job and has said he believes the company policy doesn’t line up with its stated stance rejecting “racism and discrimination of any kind,” as it prevents employees from sharing that opinion while in uniform.
On Wednesday night, people gathered at Courier Field for a memorial service for victims of police brutality. A “Freedom Friday” event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Friday and will take the group to the Hillsborough County Circuit Courthouse at 301 N. Michigan Ave.
HCSO swears in new deputies at festival grounds
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office returned to the TECO Expo Hall at the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds last week to swear in 32 new deputies.
The members of class 1905 got their badges on June 12 in front of a limited audience of family members and HCSO personnel. The event was live-streamed on the HCSO Facebook page.
“Law enforcement is in the spotlight right now. Some people are even questioning our very existence,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “For this reason, we urge our new deputies to uphold the oath they took today and remember to always put others before themselves.”
Hillsborough to add beds in senior COVID-19 care facility
Hillsborough County is working to double the number of beds at the Inn at University Village, an assisted living facility serving as a transition unit for senior care facility residents with COVID-19.
Sixty beds are currently contracted at the facility and 45 of them are currently in use. The facility is for seniors with the virus who do not need to be hospitalized and are waiting in their own separate wing to be cleared to return to their previous residence. The additional 60 beds to be contracted would be placed in another separate wing designed specifically for that purpose.
Movie theater reopens tomorrow
Plant City’s Premiere LUX Cine’ at 220 W. Alexander St. is ready to open its doors and fire up the projectors once again starting tomorrow.
Staff members will wear gloves and face masks and will have their temperatures screened each day. Cashier partitions and hand sanitizer stations for guests have been installed in the theater, as have social distancing markers. The time between showings has been extended so staff can spend more time cleaning between them. Guests do not have to wear face masks if they don’t want to.
“This is an important achievement and we are thrilled to reopen,” Premiere director Sonya Dunn said. “We’ve missed our customers and I think they’re more than ready to start enjoying the big-screen movie experience again.”
Visit pccmovies.com for showtimes and more information.